


knife-throwing

by spitefulspphic



Series: the sun, the moon, and the ocean [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, Fluff, mai being a useless sapphic, ty lee and zuko are just trying to help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 11:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30038328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spitefulspphic/pseuds/spitefulspphic
Summary: No, Mai is not jealous.Not only is it ridiculous, but Mai is also notthatkind of friend. Even if Ty Lee does share her… interest over the same subject of her current—and annoyingly persistent—infatuation (spirits, it sounds ridiculous even in her own head), which Ty Lee has assured her isn’t the case more times than what was needed to get the point across, she wouldn’t resent her friend over it. Suki’s just some girl.(Some girlwho has eyes that are capable of cutting her enemies open as much as they were capable of warming her up enough to slip on a genuine smile, let her guard down bit by bit the more time Mai spends being around her.)
Relationships: Mai & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Suki (Avatar)
Series: the sun, the moon, and the ocean [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2209719
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	knife-throwing

**Author's Note:**

> soooo, this fic is part of an au series-- it takes place in chapter 4 of the _goddesses_ fic, but from mai's pov --but it's also just pure fluff so i guess you can enjoy it without having read the other fic. but for context, you can read the first fic in this series.

No, Mai is not jealous.

Not only is it ridiculous, but Mai is also not _that_ kind of friend. Even if Ty Lee does share her… interest over the same subject of her current—and annoyingly persistent—infatuation (spirits, it sounds ridiculous even in her own head), which Ty Lee has assured her isn’t the case more times than what was needed to get the point across, she wouldn’t resent her friend over it. Suki’s just some girl.

( _Some girl_ who has eyes that are capable of cutting her enemies open as much as they were capable of warming her up enough to slip on a genuine smile, let her guard down bit by bit the more time Mai spends being around her.)

So no, she isn’t jealous. Why would she even be jealous? Just because Ty Lee could sashay her way to everyone’s hearts and effortlessly charm anyone off their feet, a trait Mai decidedly doesn’t possess nor does she have any desire of acquiring even though, looking at Ty Lee and Suki now, that same charm seems to work tremendously on Suki and— _wait_.

Agni take her, she’s actually jealous.

While Ty Lee and Suki are distracted with their training, the former pointing out the many pressure points that can immobilize a person when hit with precisely-measured strikes, Mai slips away undetected and heads to the site of her sole respite in this tiny, boring island—target practice.

 _You’ve never tried teaching me how to throw knives_ , Suki said to her just the other night. They were sitting in that mosquito-infested spot under the plum tree. It was only the two of them. 

_You never asked_ , Mai replied.

 _Well, I’m asking now_.

After that, the two of them traced the same path Mai is walking through now, spent a couple of hours—in the middle of the night with only the moonbeams escaping through the gaps between branches and leaves as their light—trying to teach Suki how to land a knife on the target. She only managed to do it once, though—it was too dim, and Suki’s eyes kept drifting to Mai instead of the target in front of her.

Mai might be hopeless, but she isn’t as much of an idiot as _Zuko_. She knows there’s something there. She’s aware of all the times Suki chose to sit next to her, or how often she talked to her, or laughed at her dust-dry jokes.

The problem isn’t because she suspects Suki likes someone else, Mai thinks as she hurls three knives at once, all of them struggling for space in the small “X” mark that Zuko had painstakingly drawn with his fire. The problem is that Mai— she’s not the kind of girl who would laugh as freely as Suki does or be as wide-eyed about the world like she is. She's a cynic who hates being in the sun too long, who's rough around the edges and thinks Suki's Kyoshi Warrior outfit is far too colorful. Eventually, Suki will tire of her and realize _you know what, I don’t think we quite match_.

 _Ridiculous_. She throws one knife. _Pathetic_. Another one. _Utterly, unbearably, unbelievably_ —

“Mai? We need to talk ab—”

…And she nearly killed one of her best friends.

(Well, no, not really. Mai never misses. If she actually wanted to kill Zuko, her shuriken would’ve hit him right in the forehead. Katara was just being overbearingly protective as always.)

“What’s really the problem, though?” asks Zuko after Katara left, plucking the knives that were still sticking on the marked tree trunks. “I hope you know by now that you could always talk to me.”

“I know,” she says. “I just don’t think I need to.”

A beat.

“But it would probably help you clear your head if you do, you know. Uncle always did tell me that.”

There still a tinge of grief when he said _Uncle_ —that loss will probably never leave him.

“It’s nothing, Zuko. No need to trouble yourself about it.”

Zuko hands her the knives, looking at her doubtfully. “All right,” he eventually says. “I won’t pry.”

*****

Turns out Zuko told Ty Lee about the knife-throwing incident. Her bad, of course. She should’ve known Zuko wouldn’t just let it go easily.

“He said you threw a knife at him!”

“Ty Lee, will you please—” She sighs. She’s glad they’re the only ones in the kitchen right now. “I’m okay. For Agni’s sake, you and Zuko are so annoying sometimes…”

“You threw a knife at him!” Ty Lee repeats. 

“It didn’t even get close.”

“I know that, duh,” Ty Lee waves her chopsticks in front of Mai’s face. “You never miss unless you want to, and you’ve done that to him before. But still, you only ever do that when something’s up. Is it about Suki?”

Mai crosses her arms on the table and lets her head fall down against it, hiding her face on the hollow space between her arms. That’s it, the last straw. She’s finally going to trade her friends’ souls for a life of peace and quiet.

“Oh, it is about that, then.”

“Shut up,” Mai grumbles, making Ty Lee laugh.

“Come on, Mai,” her friend says, nudging her. “Why are you even moping? Suki likes you!”

“I do?”

Mai’s heart freezes at the sound of that voice.

She wants nothing else in that moment but for the earth to swallow her whole. (Where’s Toph when you need her?)

“Suki! Um, we were just, uh, talking about you,” Ty Lee—unhelpfully—says.

Mai, still refusing to look up and face the consequences of having a friend like Zuko and Ty Lee, hears Suki take a seat across from her. “Hey, Mai? You still breathing down there?”

 _No, I’m not,_ she thinks. _In fact, I’ve completely forgotten how to_.

Slowly, as if she were someone who committed treason and is about to be put under the chopping block (which is not entirely inaccurate actually, given her involvement with Zuko’s rebellious prolonged excursion without asking for his murderous dad's permission), Mai lifter her head up.

Suki is looking at her with a grin on her face.

Agni, she wants to kiss that face so bad.

“Is it true?”

Mai’s heart lurches. “What is?”

“That you and Ty Lee were talking about me.” Suki's grin widens.

 _All right, I can play this game too_.

“We’re not allowed to do that?” she asks Suki, the smallest hint of teasing in her tone.

Suki shrugs with one shoulder. “I’m just thinking that, if you have something to tell me, just say it to my face.”

“Good idea, Suki!” Ty Lee blurts out. She stands up, her chair dragging against the floor, and pulls Mai on her feet. “You two should have a talk! Just the two of you. Alooone.”

“Ty Lee—”

“Yeah, that does sound good.” Suki inclines her head at her. “If that’s fine with you, of course.”

Mai nods. She _actually_ nods. Why is she going along with this? 

She blames Zuko—both for being a tattletale and for his idiocy rubbing off on her.

*****

Suki crosses her legs beneath her on the matted floor, resting her chin on her hand as she looks at Mai. “So, Ty Lee thinks I like you?”

Mai rolls her eyes. “I knew you were going to be insufferable about this.”

“I was trying to be smooth.”

“You’re not denying it?” Mai keeps her expression neutral, but her heartbeat is rapidly going faster, her chest constricting and her belly flipping over in on itself.

“As if you’d believe me if I did,” she snorts. “It's pretty obvious, I think.”

Mai nods, unsure of how to respond to that. 

Suki shifts closer to her. Mai’s heart starts racing again. “Since we’re in the subject of exposing my secrets, can I tell you something?”

“Go on.”

“I _really_ want to kiss you right now.”

Mai is suddenly very pleased she decided to sit—if she hadn’t, she would’ve gone weak in the knees.

She feels her lips curl in a smile she hopes is inviting. Leaning close, she says, “What’s stopping you?”

Suki’s face lights up. For all her bravado, something like relief passes over her features. 

She’s so _beautiful_ , Mai can barely stand it.

Just as Suki is closing her eyes and starts to inch her face closer to Mai's, the door suddenly creaks open.

Suki rears back as if she was launched backwards by a spring.

Yue stands by the door, eyes flickering between Mai and Suki. At first, she looks surprised, then gradually the nature of the situation she just walked in on dawns on her and her expression turns—equal parts apologetic and amused.

If it weren’t for the fact that attacking her in any capacity would feel like kicking a puppy, Yue would be pinned to the wall with Mai’s knives right now.

(It’s all good, though. Suki got to kiss her later that night—under that little plum tree with mosquitos buzzing in her ears—and Mai wouldn’t have it any other way.)

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are appreciated <3


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